Does It Make You Feel Like a Man?
by The Queen of Double Standards
Summary: You can cover it up with make-up, but I'll still see the bruises. He's not good for you, Rin. I know someone who would treat you better: me. GumixRin, LenxRin. Twoshot.
1. One Look Puts the Rhythm in My Head

**Does It Make You Feel Like a Man?**

_Cover up with makeup in the mirror  
__Tell yourself it's never gonna happen again  
__You cry alone and then he swears he loves you  
__Do you feel like a man when you push her around?  
__Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?_

-Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

"Yo, Megumi."

Len tapped on my head. With a vague sense of irritation, I glared up at my best friend while the friends I'd been sitting with to eat lunch gazed up at him with smug grins. Len looked down at me with a neutral expression, seeing nothing wrong with his lack of introduction or impolite way of getting my attention. That was the way he'd always been, though, ever since we were kids. Even Iroha and Lui knew that by now.

"What do you want, Len?" I questioned, exasperated.

"I need a wingman," he replied.

I could feel the veins on my forehead popping. "I'm a girl, Len. I'm not gonna help you pick up girls."

He looked at me curiously before replying, "We could find you a guy, too, if that'll make you feel better."

I stuck my lips out in a pout and turned back to my friends with great dignity. "That's quite fine, thank you."

"Or a girl, if that's the way you're swinging today."

Blood rushed immediately to my cheeks and I ripped myself off the table, whipping around to glare at my childhood friend. Sure, Len could easily get away with saying that and no one would take it seriously, but _still_. That wasn't something you just _said_.

"Shut up, you jerk!" I snapped at him. Then, with my nose in the air, I indignantly lied, "Besides, there's a guy I like already."

"And that's her one and only Len."

I whipped around viciously to glare at Iroha, who was giggling and smirking at us as she hid behind her boyfriend, Lui. She stuck out her tongue at us and wrapped her arms tightly around Lui, ordering him to protect her from me.

"I'm not as tsundere as you seem to think," I snorted, horrified by the thought of dating Len. "Seriously, we're just childhood friends. No more."

"Great. Well, if you don't harbor any romantic feelings for me, why not help me out in picking up this chick?" he questioned, looping an arm around my shoulder. He smirked and used a crooked finger to tilt my face toward his. Admittedly, it made me blush, but wasn't that the natural reaction in this situation? I stubbornly continued to glare at him. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Jerk," I retorted, shouldering him off and beginning to walk. "Where is she?"

With a smug smile, Len lead me to his poor victim, a helpless little blonde girl who sat with a couple of her friends, laughing about something. Len gazed at me expectantly. I knew she was the one he wanted. The other two weren't his type. There was a pale-pink-haired girl, her hair having a short section woven into braids on either side of her head, but he didn't like long hair. He said it got in the way. Of what, I'd never dared to ask. Then there was a teal-haired girl, but she was at least a B-cup, and the sicko had a fettish for A-cups. Creep.

So, I slid into the seat beside the blonde, who gazed at me curiously as I smiled at her and said, "Hiya! My name's Gumi, Gumi Hiyama. What's your name?"

"Rin Kagamine," she supplied with a delicate, confused smile. "These are my friends, Miku Hatsune and Aria."

I laughed a little and looked curiously at Aria, whose eyes were glazed over in a dreamy way. "No last name?"

"Right now, a baby is crying and an old man is laughing," she said in a wistful voice.

I blinked a bit before turning back to Rin. "Okay then. Well, Rin, today's your lucky day, because I happen to know that a very hot guy wants to ask you out." Ew, gross. How could I say that?

Rin's face went bright red and she stuttered, "N-no way! You must have the wrong person. No one would ever want to ask me out."

"Sure they would," I laughed. "My best buddy Len totally interrupted my lunch to make me come ask you for him, so will you go out with him?"

I nodded toward him so she could take a glance, and she reddened further when she looked at him. "R-really? He actually wants to go out with me?"

I smirked and patted her on the back. "Trust me, Len's a good guy. We've been friends since we were kids. He'll be good to ya."

. . .

"Gotta love ya, Megumi."

This time, he'd placed crossed arms and then his chin atop my head. I scowled, wondering what in the world was wrong with this boy. Didn't he know that girls were supposed to be treated with delicacy?

"What did I do this time?" I wondered, sighing gently as I did. Lui and Iroha blinked curiously up at Len, ignoring me completely.

"Turns out Rin's a great kisser," he informed me. Childhood friends, sure, but there was only so much I wanted to know about his relationship with his girlfriend. "Honestly, I'm considering not breaking up with her."

"How considerate of you," I said dryly. I knew by now that Len's relationships never made it past the first month. He grew bored too quickly. I was actually pleasantly surprised that he'd stuck with Rin this long considering they were three weeks in and he'd only now gotten a kiss from her. That was probably what had kept him with her, in retrospect. Len wasn't one to give up quickly. The harder they fought, the more interested he became.

"It's safe for you to become friends with her, you know, Megumi," he remarked casually, now taking a seat beside me. "She'll be around for a little while longer."

"I don't need another girl hating me for breaking it off with her after you did," I told him as he loomed over my lunch and snatched a clump of rice between his fingers. I scowled down at the food. There was no way I was eating it now. I doubted Len washed his hands beforehand.

"You can be friends with my exes, y'know," he informed me, feeding himself another chunk of sticky rice. "I won't be mad."

"No, but they will be when I promised you were a stand-up guy," I stated calmly.

"You girls are all too sensitive," he sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "C'mon, Megumi. I promise to keep dating her for at least a month, and I think you'd like her. She's really hot."

I turned my frown from my food to him and wondered, "What kind of implications are you making?"

Casually, he turned his gaze to Iroha and Lui, who watched us with smirks. Honestly, Len was not someone I'd ever consider dating, so I wish they'd just shut up about it. That kind of stuff only happened in stories. "Well, you're not attracted to me, so you're obviously—"

Seeing where he was headed, I stuffed my melon bread into his mouth and growled, "Finish that sentence and die."

He laughed through the bread, though, so I shoved it further into his mouth. There was a very possible danger of him choking, but that seemed alright to me. Iroha was busy laughing as that danger seemed most prominent, whereas Lui was far more decent than us girls and reached over to try to save him.

"He's going to be a sloth in his next life."

The four of us stopped to stare at the speaker, the eternally dreamy Aria, as she and Miku flanked Rin, carrying their lunch trays. Rin smiled shyly and wondered, "Would it be alright for us to join you?"

I raised my brow suspiciously at Len, who shrugged with guilty eyes and a smirk, before I smiled kindly at Rin. "Be my guest. Your boyfriend keeps eating all my food."

"It's kind of hard not to when you're shoving melon bread down his throat," remarked Miku. Her voice was so nasally it made me flinch, especially in contrast to Aria's mature voice. Rin's voice was actually kind of nasally, too, but something about her made it easy to forgive that flaw. This Miku girl was questioning how I treated Len, however, which was totally uncalled for.

"He needs the nutrients," I said sweetly, shoving it further down Len's throat while smiling innocently at the onlookers.

"Gumi, you're going to make Rin jealous," Iroha warned.

"A little late for that," Rin laughed with a tense smile. I froze and released the melon bread, feeling immediately guilty. It must have looked strange for Rin. Now I felt terrible. I was used to treating Len like that, but Rin was probably too shy to ever do something like that.

"Sorry," I said quickly, shuffling away from Len as quickly as I could. "Well, please sit down."

"Please don't worry about me," requested Rin politely, taking a seat between Len and I. Whether or not it was to keep us apart, I couldn't be sure, but Rin didn't seem like that type to me. "It's fine. Len's told me all about you."

"Well he obviously hasn't done a good job," scoffed Iroha. "She's a vicious little monster, you know. You saw what she was just doing."

I cast a mild glare at Iroha, but Rin only smiled. "No, that about summarizes what he told me."

I turned a vicious death stare to Len. "You idiot! That's how you talk about me to people?"

He smirked at me and wondered, "Fine, tell her it isn't true."

I scowled, knowing that that analysis had been accurate, but it was still a terrible thing to say. I turned my sour gaze to my lunch as Rin giggled. That boy. Just to teach him a lesson, I'd tell Rin every single embarrassing story I knew of his.

. . .

"Megumi, catch."

I stopped myself from continuing on despite Len's request and turned to snatch the thrown item out of the air. I gazed down at his house key and then back up at him, tilting my head to the side rather than asking the question.

"Tell Rin I'll be back later today, okay?" he wondered. "Just hang out with her at my place for a while.

"No way," I replied, tossing it back in disdain. What was I, a babysitter? I'd already told him that I wanted nothing to do with his new girlfriend. Sure, they'd been dating six weeks now, and we were cordial enough at lunch and in passing in the hallways, but I had nothing to say to her if we spent hours together.

I accepted the key once more as he threw it back. "C'mon, Megumi. Help me out."

"Why should I?" I questioned, but I was too lazy to send him the key back.

"Because I'll cry if you don't."

"That's the worse excuse ever. I'd gladly see you cry if it got me out of wasting my time after school with your latest conquest." I tossed the key over the heads of passersby, who watched us as I stood at the gates and he on the steps of the school.

"I'll buy you lunch next week."

Well I was definitely a babysitter, it seemed. Still, I sighed and held a hand out for the key, moving to catch it when it was sent my way. "Fine, whatever, but it'll be a big lunch, and you can't eat any of it."

He grinned. "Deal. Later, Megumi." I sighed as I watched him dart off, realizing that I had no idea where Rin was and there was no way he'd listen to me now. I supposed that meant I had to go find her. Fantastic.

With a hefty sigh, I made my way back into the school, pushing through the crowd of exiting students. I figured that checking her locker first was a good idea, and then maybe the classroom if she wasn't there. So I made my way to the vacant hallway where her locker was, then into the empty classroom. With a sigh and a scowl, I shrugged my bag onto the other shoulder since my arm was beginning to hurt. Maybe the gym, or a clubroom. Or the bathroom.

That seemed like the best bet, so I started searching through the bathrooms. I finally found her in the one on the third floor, all the way back in the corner of the school. It was the least visited bathroom by far, and, as such, was incredibly clean. However, it had a creepy feel about it, especially since no one had changed the lights in months, so the overhead glare flickered unsteadily.

I creaked the door to peek inside, emitting a sigh of relief when I spotted her reapplying her eye-makeup. One side of her face was mismatched, the colours much darker than the other. I raised a brow, amused. I usually did that by accident with cover-up when I had a terrible zit. I refrained from calling her out on it, understanding her situation immediately.

"Hey, Rin," I welcomed, striding into the bathroom toward her. She jumped violently, her make-up brush slipping from her grip and clattering onto the floor. I paused, as did she, before she slowly turned her gaze from the brush to me. I smiled and laughed before crouching to retrieve the brush. I held it out to her and remarked, "A little jumpy, huh?"

"S-sorry," she apologized, her eyes falling nervously as she accepted my offering. I felt the discomfort in the air. She was a skittish girl, I guessed, and we didn't really know each other outside of the group.

"I'm Gumi," I introduced myself, smiling consolingly.

She looked up to me and frowned, looking a little insulted. "I know that."

I giggled at her indignant expression, feeling odd butterflies fluttering in my stomach. "Just making sure."

It was quiet for a little while before Rin wondered, "Why haven't you headed home yet?"

I flashed her Len's key and stated, "He's going to be home late, so he asked me to let you in and keep you company until he arrives."

Her eyes fell once more, a flicker of uncertainty in her gaze as she smiled frailly. "Actually, I think I'd just like to go home tonight. I'm not really up to hanging out. Can you tell him that for me?"

I paused, searching through her blue gaze. There was something wrong. It was obvious enough. "What's wrong? Did you and Len have a fight?"

She jumped, telling me that my guess was right on the mark, and then she looked up at me and put on a smile anyone could have seen through. "It's nothing, really, but I don't really want to see him tonight."

I fell silent, unsure what to say. I was worried now. Had Len tried to force her into doing something she was uncomfortable with? I couldn't put that past Len, and it made me more upset then I'd liked to admit. I knew I was being pushy now, but I couldn't help it. "Well, if you're not going to see him tonight, would you mind keeping me company?"

Quietly, she mused, "I don't know . . . . "

I smiled largely and grabbed her hand, beginning to tug her along without her consent. "C'mon, Rin. It'll be fun."

"My make-up . . . ," she started.

"No one comes here. It'll be here tomorrow. Come on."

She gave up then and accepted that I wouldn't take no for an answer. I smiled as best as I could for her, trying to reassure her that everything would be okay tomorrow. She obviously wasn't angry at him, and he hadn't seemed angry at her, so I was sure they'd make up tomorrow. She had nothing to worry about. Everything would be better. Len was being good to her, unlike he had been with the rest of his girlfriends.

**Author's Note: This was originally a oneshot, but it ended up being around 6000 words, so I split it into two parts to make it easier to read.**


	2. This Doesn't Hurt

**Does It Make You Feel Like a Man?**

Iroha and Lui erupted in laughter when I told them what had happened after school the previous day. I tilted my head, not understanding what they found so funny, until Lui remarked, "Poor Len. He might've gotten lucky last night if Gumi hadn't stolen his date."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I questioned, exasperated.

"Isn't it obvious?" Iroha sighed, still smiling broadly as she stifled her laughter and leaned her head on Lui's shoulder as we three walked home from school. "He and Rin were going to do it last night. She was having second thoughts, probably trying to make herself look prettier by redoing her make-up, which is why she ran away when you gave her the chance. And now Len's going to kill you."

"C'mon, Iroha," I groaned, scowling at the couple as they grinned at me. "There's no way Rin would sleep with him after only a month and a half."

"Have you seen him, Gumi?" wondered Iroha. "He's gorgeous."

"I'd sleep with him after a month and a half," remarked Lui. I raised a brow at him before Iroha confidently interrupted.

"I'd sleep with him right now if he asked me to," she remarked, shrugging as Lui and I gazed at her inquisitively. "Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." She cast her boyfriend a sidelong glance. "And, apparently, what Lui's gotta do."

Lui shrugged as well. "What can I do? He's a very attractive guy."

I stuck my tongue out, disgusted by the two of them. "You guys are gross. And I'm definitely telling Len about this tonight."

"Tonight?" Lui questioned, grinning.

I blinked at him innocently, having no idea why he was grinning. "Yeah. Rin asked if I'd come hang out."

"I don't know who I should worry about, Rin or Len," remarked Iroha, frowning in contemplation. She turned her gaze onto Lui. "Which one do you think she likes, Lui?"

"I'd say she's starting to like Rin," Lui replied, grinning as my cheeks burned red. Those two were insane. "She seems to be going to great measures to keep her and Len from doing it, after all."

"They're not going to do it, alright?" I snapped, resulting in laughter from my two companions as I sighed and sped up my pace. I needed better friends.

. . .

It wasn't until a month later that I slammed my head against my desk and admitted defeat under Lui and Iroha's gazes, and I felt horrible for confessing it, but I needed to tell someone. They'd guessed it long ago, after all, and I was certain they wouldn't tell anyone. "I think I'm in love with Rin."

"Finally," sighed Lui with a smile.

"What gave it away?" Iroha wondered.

I recounted what had happened the previous night. As usual, afterschool, I'd gone over to Len's and joined him and Rin in playing video games and watching television for a while. I'd begun to notice over the last while how I felt, but it wasn't proved until last night, when she'd curled herself onto his chest with a contented sigh. He'd casually kissed her forehead, and she'd murmured just as casually that she loved him. The way she'd said it and the way he'd not reacted had told me that they'd said it before, and I'd felt immediately so jealous of Len, not of Rin. I didn't want a boyfriend. I wanted Rin.

"Mm, that's tough," Iroha sympathized, looking a little lost now that I'd confessed. "There's not really much you can do about it, though."

"That's the worst part," I sighed, leaning my cheek on the cool wooden surface of my desk as I gazed out the doorway. "It's not fair. Why did the one girl Len ended up being serious about have to be the one I fell for?"

"Speak of the devil," Lui whispered in warning as Rin, Miku, and Aria made their way into the art room that Lui, Iroha, and I had already gotten ourselves prepared in. This was the only class where we got to see the other three since all classes where mixed together for this one.

"Hey," Rin welcomed to me and me alone, smiling so kindly that my heart ached. She took her seat beside me. A single glance at her caused my heart to race, and I felt immediately guilty. She was Len's girlfriend.

"Hey," I replied, turning my gaze to the canvas I'd begun painting. I could feel Iroha and Lui watching me and nearly snapped at them to leave me alone, but that would be too suspicious. "Are we hanging out afterschool?"

"Len and I are going out tonight," she murmured apologetically, becoming entranced with her painting as she spoke to me. Rin was definitely more suited for this class than I was. "We'll be back around nine, though, if you wanted to meet us afterward."

My sunken heart rose at those last words, to which I swiftly agreed. I could feel the heat of Lui and Iroha's gazes worse than before, but what could I do? I wasn't going to do anything, but I needed to be with her just a little more.

"Yo, Megumi."

I sighed irritably to Rin's giggle as I felt the usual weight of Len's fist tapping my head. I jerked my chin up to gaze at him. "What are you doing in here?"

"Came to see Rin," he stated while she froze in her brushstroke to smile at him. She smiled so sweetly that I felt jealousy clawing through me. "We're cutting class for our date."

Rin giggled. "We are, are we?"

He smirked at her and offered a hand. "Yes, yes we are."

With a laugh, she got up from her seat and began to follow his lead. I watched them go as they were stopped by a question from the teacher. He was a soft-spoken, gentle man, Kiyoteru, so he was really useless at times like these when the couple exchange mischievous looks before laughing and bolting out of the classroom. He called for them once more, but they were gone. He sighed and let the class fall back into peace, knowing that it was useless to try to retrieve the escapees.

"Bathroom," I announced a few minutes later when he glanced at me as I stood. After he cast me a nod of consent, I headed out into the hallways. I didn't actually have to go to the bathroom. I just needed to get out of there. It wasn't fair. I wished I'd noticed Rin before, before Len had gotten her. Why was she the first one he actually took seriously? It wasn't fair.

A shock ran through my body as I heard a sharp sound and a squeal of pain. I recognized her voice just from that noise. Rin. I ran through the hallways, pausing right when I saw them. Her sobs ripped through the air as she fell to the ground, her face jerked to one side as her hair covered her face from view. I wanted to run to her, to help her, but I was absolutely frozen. My eyes barely registered Len there, his eyes wide with horror as he took a step back and covered his mouth with his hands, shaking his head repeatedly.

"I'm so sorry," he breathed, and her tears broke the linoleum tiles. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He repeated it over and over again as she cried, and I just stood there uselessly. What was I supposed to do? I had to do something, but what? What was I supposed to do in this situation?

After a while, she gently brought herself to her feet, and she made her way over to him. She pushed the fallen hair out of her face, and I saw the red mark pulled across her cheek. That didn't shock me as much as the tender smile on her face, however, and she gently lifted a hand up and stroked his face. "Shh," she whispered to him, ever so gently. "It'll never happen again, right, Len?"

She was still crying, and he was, now, too. Still, he promised through choked sobs, "Never. Never again."

She kissed him then, their tears mingling together. I stood there, petrified. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to do?

He'd hit her.

. . .

I'd lied to her. I was a liar. Len wasn't a good guy. He didn't treat her well.

I couldn't stand to be around either of them anymore. It took weeks before, finally, they'd managed to get me back to Len's house, and my irritability was on high. I'd seen them. How could they? How could she take him back after that? How?

It haunted me, the thoughts of that day. I shivered each time I saw them together, and I still ran away whenever possible. It horrified me when Rin flinched upon Kiyoteru's reaching over her. Had he noticed? If he had, why hadn't he done something? Why hadn't I done something?

During the break, I wandered aimlessly in the hallways, avoiding anyone I knew even remotely. I entered that bathroom, the one that no one ever used, the one with the faded lights, and froze in the doorway when I heard a broken sob. I peered inside to see Rin biting down on her lower lip. Her left cheek was bright red, a fresh mark, and she was busy coating it with make-up. When I'd seen her that first day, had that been what she'd been doing? The horrific realization stung as it settled, echoed by the words Rin said now once more. "It'll never happen again."

I had happened again, had happened many times in the past. I dashed from the bathroom, terrified. What was I supposed to do? Why was she still with him if he was doing this? Dammit, what was I supposed to do?

. . .

"Shut up, Len."

Rin and Len both looked to me in shock as I said that. We were in my basement that day, playing videogames. I couldn't recall what he'd said, but I couldn't stop myself from exploding at him, just a little.

"What's your problem, Megumi?" he questioned, scowling. "You're being bitchy. Are you on your time of the month or something?"

I glared viciously at him and snapped, "What's your excuse for being rotten then?"

Len's eyes blazed, and I couldn't help but notice Rin shrink back. "If you're going to be like this, we're leaving," Len snapped, grabbing her harshly by the wrist. I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and smacking his hand away when he yanked her upward off the couch while she shrank back in terror.

"Screw you," I snapped. "What the hell's wrong with me stating my opinion?"

"You don't seem to be in a very sociable mood right now, Gumi." He stared at me, iciness creeping just below the surface until that final word, the use of my actual name bringing his horrid frustration right up to the surface. The way his eyes glimmered now terrified me. It was the worst expression I'd ever seen on his face. Was this the same face he showed Rin when he hit her?

"Why don't you give your girlfriend a choice then, huh?" I nearly shouted, feeling the anger steadily rising. Keeping it in for so long was killing me, and I couldn't help myself anymore. Rin seemed absolutely petrified, and it was only then that my consciousness registered that I might have been making things worse for her. Still, the fueled hatred held its control over me. "Why don't you treat her like an actual human being rather than a ragdoll?"

I could see his fist clenching at his side, and the other hand rose swiftly into the air. My eyes shut instinctively as I flinched, bracing myself for the impact, but it didn't come. Instead, the next moment, when I opened my eyes, both of my classmates had vanished. My heart continued racing as I shouted his name and dashed up the stairs right in time to see him closing the door, leaving himself inside and Rin out. He stopped, his eyes regaining their usual composure, as he stared coldly at me.

"What's going on with you, Megumi?" he questioned, taking a step toward me. I took a step back, terrified now. "What's got you all worked up?"

I drew in a shuddering breath, turned my eyes to stone, and stared him straight in the eyes. The words fell like blades in the silence. "You hit her."

He winced at the words, and his tough exterior fell. His gaze dropped, his hands forming fists, as he murmured, "I didn't mean to."

As his hand fell from the doorknob, Rin forced her way back into the house. She looked prepared to shout, but she stopped when she saw the looks on our faces. I stared at her, trying to let her know that I knew what happened with my gaze, but she didn't understand. So, gently, I repeated, "He hit you."

She flinched, turning her panicked gaze onto him, but he wouldn't look at her. Then, turning her eyes to the tiles below our feet, she nodded.

Slowly, breaking into the silence that fell between us all, I stated, "It's happened more than once."

Len nodded, then he looked up at me desperately. "I don't know why it happens, Megumi." He looked to Rin as her gaze filled with tears, staring back at him. "I love her so much. You have no idea."

I nearly laughed, but the heartbreak in his eyes stopped me, and I said, "If you truly loved her, you'd never do that to her."

None of us broke the silence that time.

. . .

It was a sound worse than a gunshot, and it caught my attention just as fast. In the falling rain, my eyes turned to Rin and Len as his fist made contact with her cheek. She slid onto the ground and caught herself on a tree branch, leaning against a trunk as the rain continued falling. On our way home from school, I was forced to dash back to Len and hold him back as I saw the rage still flashing in his gaze, insisting, "Len, calm down!"

"You can't leave me!" he exclaimed, breaking away from me easily and falling to his knees before the battered Rin. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her sharply, staring desperately into her empty eyes. "Please don't leave me, Rin!"

She looked away from him, all emotions drained, and said, "I can't do this anymore, Len. I've had enough. I can't. Gumi's right. I'm not a ragdoll." She paused, stared him straight in the eyes, and said firmly, "I've finally had enough."

"Len, stop it!" I exclaimed, but he pushed me off the moment I touched him, and I couldn't prevent him from hitting her once more, knocking her sideways, down into the dirt.

"You can't leave me!" he told her, desperation coating his voice as he stumbled backward, coming to the point when he realized what he was doing. "R-Rin . . . ."

Her shoulders shook, and it took me a moment to realize she was laughing. Then, she lifted her head. Her face was coated in mud now, the make-up washed off by the rain and revealing each and every bruise Len had left. She smiled at him and stated, "Is that all you've got, Len? It doesn't hurt anymore. This doesn't hurt."

We all fell quiet then, nothing but the sound of rain around us as we all lay, coated in mud. Len stared at her, horrified as he was forced to see everything he'd done to her. Her smile only stayed for a moment before her eyes teared and her lips shuddered. Her utterly heart-wrenching sob tore through the air as she wept every tear from every time he'd hurt her. I sat there, unable to do anything, as I realized just how useless I'd been all along. As much as I loved Rin, I'd done nothing for her. She'd gone through so much, and, all by herself, she'd had to bring herself to this. Enough was enough. I should have told Len that long ago, but I hadn't.

_This doesn't hurt._

. . .

_Six months later . . ._

Miku and Aria barely glanced at Lui, Iroha, and I in passing in the hallway while Rin slung both her arms around one of Gakupo's, smiling up at the boy who'd treated her properly for the last month. I looked away from them, unable to bear it.

It had been half a year since that incident in the rain. I'd never told Rin how I felt in the end. After how useless I'd been, I knew it was beyond my rights to expect anything from her. I'd stopped speaking with her not long after she and Len had broken up, but she was happier now. Gakupo was good to her, unlike Len and I.

Len didn't come to school anymore. I hadn't seen him since they'd broken up, and I didn't plan on searching for him. That last day in the rain was the last time I'd really ever seen her or him again, but that was how things were meant to be.

Rin's eyes met mine in passing, and she offered me a polite smile. I returned it, of course, but I knew all it was was politeness. She had a new life now, one she deserved, and Len and I weren't a part of it.

**Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for your support on this story. This one was a very personal one for me as my mother was a battered wife in her first marriage, but she still loved him. I wanted the characters to show shades of grey. It's terrible what Len did, but he didn't mean to do it. Gumi wanted to help, but she never did anything. Only when Rin finally said it was enough did she manage to find happiness after offering him forgiveness so many times. I hope you enjoyed the story, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read it.**


End file.
